These Retailers Face Most Risk From Amazon's 'Showrooming' Mobile Customers

"Showrooming" is the concept that describes shoppers who
walk around stores like Walmart, Target and
Best Buy
and then use their mobile phones to compare prices at other
stores or online at Amazon.

An entire guerrilla advertising industry has grown up
around showrooming, with companies paying to advertise on mobile
phones that they know — through geolocation — are in or near big
box stores in hopes of tempting them toward offers from
rivals.

The results show that Amazon is
not an equal threat to all stores: Bed Bath & Beyond is most
likely to suffer from its own in-store customers looking up
cheaper stuff on Amazon. Best Buy also suffers
disproportionately. Note that general retailers have less risk
than those like BB&B, PetSmart and Toys R Us, which sell
one-off purchases that are often more expensive than stuff sold
at JC Penney or Target:

Placed

"Showroomers that purchase on
Amazon are 20% more likely to visit Best Buy and 15% more likely
to visit Target than average, but several other retailers face an
even greater risk," Placed says.

Although Walmart carries a low risk of showrooming — perhaps
because customers believe they're already looking at the lowest
possible prices — it is in fierce competition with Amazon. These
are the companies that share most customers with the online
retailer: